We left our sweethearts and our wives
Along the pier
"cheer up", they said
"you'll soon return in half the year"
So we sailed up north
To reach the ice
We took full sail
Each boat was manned with guns and rope
To hunt that whale

We know we'll be fighting in this frost on our own
And we'll see no sound nor sights of our homes
And our lovers they'll be waiting there 'til spring
It's a ramble and a race to be king
A race to be king

Now we'd been sailing a league or three
To glimpse that shore
The night was dark and won no hearts so we stayed on board
There fired a shot along our deck and down one side
And it cracked our mast and swept in fast
Our bird she cried out

That we know we'll be fighting in this frost on our own
And we'll see no sound nor sights of our homes
And our lovers they'll be waiting there 'til spring
It's a ramble and a race to be king
A race to be king

A race to be king
Race to be king
A race to be king

And we know we'll be fighting in this frost on our own
And we'll see no sound nor sights of our homes
And our lovers they'll be waiting there 'til spring
It's a ramble and a race to be king
A race to be king

A race to be king
A race to be king
A race to be king